Back in November Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli made an outlandish claim. According to the 1982 World Cup winner, 2012 was a “fantastic year” for Irish soccer.
If Giovanni Trapattoni’s right hand man believes that ludricous claim to be true then the boss probably shares the same opinion.
As painful as it is, let’s recap.
Can Euro 2012 be regarded as anything other than an embarrassment or an abject failure?
If anything it was the fans that can be viewed as fantastic with their unwavering support in Poland despite being served up horrifying results and performances game-after-game.
Granted, Ireland had a tough group of course with World Champions Spain, the ever-successful Italians and a strong Croatia.
But to lose all three group games was not the problem. It was the manner of the defeats. Ireland’s tactics were a throwback to a different era which has for the most part has been left behind by tactical innovations of the last 20 years.
Tactical limitations
The Boys in Green’s 4-4-2 was blown away by flexible and superior opponents who exposed the tactical limitations that somehow helped Trap’s squad to qualify for the tournament.
Trap’s style had always been defensive but there is no use being defensive if you cannot actually defend.
And the make-up and treatment of the squad has been another bone of contention during 2012.
In Poland, very few players emerged with even a glimmer of credit: perhaps only Keith Andrews and Damien Duff.
But after the tournament, Trap was reluctant to make the required changes. There had been complaints that the likes of James McClean and Shane Long were not given enough game-time at the Euros. Then there were Wes Hoolahan, Anthony Pilkington and Seamus Coleman who were left out of the squad completely.
But Hoolahan was not given a chance until the last friendly of the season against Greece while Pilkington will only pull on an Ireland shirt in 2013.
Cosmetic changes
McClean has had his confidence undermined and Long was referred to as “idiotic” as miscommunication reigned.
With only cosmetic changes made by the management team, Ireland’s results since the summer have ranged from routine wins over Oman and Faroe Islands to horror shows against Germany and Kazakhstan.
At the dawn of 2012 before any games had been played it looked like it was going to be a fantastic year for Irish soccer. But game after game the rays of optimism have been sucked out of the team and away from the fans.
If Tardelli thinks 2012 was fantastic then most people would be curious to know what word he would use to describe what it feels like to win a World Cup.
Image by ©INPHO/Donall Farmer
